Mechanical belt



April 25, 1950 u R. D. GARTRELI. ET Al. 2,505,354

MECHANICAL BELT Filed Aug. 15, 1946 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 25, 1950 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE" MECHANICAL' muy nouer; n. Gamen, magewwar. J., and william Carroll and Albert W. Hansen. Jackson Heights, N. Y., assignors to United States Rnb- ,her Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey lApplication August 1s, 194s, sei-iai No. 690,778-

2 Claims. (el. 19a- 193) 1 This invention relates to mechanical belts such as transmission belts and conveyor belts that are exceptionally strong for their weight.

Fabric belts as constructed heretofore have :,usually been formed of two or more plies of duck fabric. This produces a iirm fabric having substantial strength longitudinally and transversely uand compacts the fibers of the yarns at the crossing points to prevent fiber slippage in such yarns. Such duck fabricas used for many years 1n reinforcing belts hachaJ weight up to about 30 ounces vper square yard, but recently duck fabrics weighof conveyor belts a practical limit to the thickness of the belts that could be used was reached when these belts became so stiffV that they would not trough suiiiciently to form a good container for the coal, ore, gravel or other material to be conveyed. y

In some elds of use conveyor belts are employed to carry materials from one to several miles, the materials being carried up to approximately 1,000 feet by one conveyor belt. whereupon they are deposted upon another belt. As long as the prior ybelt constructions above described were used it was not practical to make belts with a conveying run of much over 1,000 feet, due to the fact that the power required to drivesuch a belt would pull it in two or cause it to stretch many feet.

Having in mind the foregoing the present invention relates to exceptionally strong and ilexible belts made for use in various elds, but the invention is primarily concerned with conveyor belts which may be made of much greater length than ,was practical heretofore. the present invention contemplates a novel type of conveyor belt which is so constructed that the strength ofthe belt longitudinally for agiven weight of the same is much higher than in the prior duck belts of the same weight, and the trans- In other words verse flexibility of the present belt is much greater than in such prior belts.

i In attempting to produce aconveyor belt of greater longitudinal strength for a given weight than the conventional multiply duck belt, applicants endeavored to do so by employing in the warp low stretch high tensile cotton yarns that Ahad been previously treated with water containinga wetting agent and then dried under high tension, as disclosed in the Hansen etal. Patent No. 2,398,787. These treated yarns were woven in the fabric by a plain weave similar to that used heretofore in duck belt fabrics. However, the results secured when such fabric was tested for strength were disappointing, because while these chemically treated and highly stretched cotton yarns were approximately '75% stronger than the untreated cotton yarns of the same size in the conventional duck fabric, the duck fabric formed of these chemically treated yarns was not appreciably stronger than the duck fabric formed of the untreated yarn.' In other words the duck fabric woven of these treated warp yarns had very poor weaving eiliciency, which is the` expression used in comparing the strength of yarns before weaving with the strength of the fabric produced of such yarns. The ordinary duck fabric has relatively high weaving efficiency due to the fact that the interlocked woven yarns tend to compress the fibers oi' the yarn and thereby hold them from slipping one upon the other in the yarn. In the case of the chemicallyl treated and highly stretched yarns the fibers were in a highly compacted condition in the yarn before it was woven in the fabric, thereforek the interlocking action of weaving did not serve to further consolidate the bers, and on the other hand the high crimp imparted to the warp yarns-by the weave reduced the strength of such yarns and increased their stretch in the fabric.

After the unsatisfactory experience with the fabric just mentioned applicants developed the construction of the present invention in which they used in the warp the low stretch, high tensile cotton yarns described in the Hansen et al. patent, but used in the weft small, soft, strong nylon yarns that permitted the warp yarns to be laid very close together and be woven with a small amount of crimp. This fabric was found to possess very high longitudinal strength and low stretch longitudinally, both ofwhich properties are highly desirable in a belt fabric, and the fabric was also found to be highly exible transversely which is an important property.

The nylon weft yarns used in this construction 3 v hadaverylowtwistsothattheseysrnscouldv. flatten outlikeari ninthe fabric. Theuse of such nylomyarns in this fabric produced the following advantages:

(1) It d the warp crimp which, (a) resulted in a higher weaving efficiency that gave greater strength lengthwise of the fabric, (b) reduced the stretch of the fabric warpwise, (c) permitted more warp yarn volume` for the same fabric weight (to the extent the crimp is reduced), and (d) permittedv more warp ends to be woven orpacked in the fabric per unit width. (2) Due to the high strength of the nylon for its weight, the weft yarn weight was reduced and the warp yarn weight correspondingly increased without in the fabric weight, while sufilcient transverse strength in the fabric was (3)'By virtue of the nylon high stretch properties, and the fact that to obtain strength equal Y to cotton the nylon can be made much finer in sise. a substantial inizl'ease in transverse flexibility of the fabric was secured.

as o result of uns construction the riunire: ofwrapyarnsperinchwasincr/ased about above that of the warp yarns in a duck of `rior construction and corresponding weight, and\ his greatly increased the strength of the present fabric, and since the nylon yarns used are small -and have good elastic properties the-conveyor belt fol-moa of suon fabric nod'exoellent' troughing properties.

' used in the weft permit a decrease inthe weight of the weft and corresponding increase in the weight of the warp over prior constructions, with 4 fabricconstructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the fabric of Fig. l, and taken onf-line 2 2. i,

l'uig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through a conveyor belt constructed of the fabric of the present invention, the good troughing properties" of the fabric being shown in this view.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a conveyor belt of prior construction illustrating the poor troughing properties caused by the stiffness of the fabric inthe belt: and I Fig. 5 is a diagram showing stress-strain curves. aIn the drawing III is a mechanical fabric constructed in accordance with the present invention. It has a plain weave and is formed of the warp yarns il and weft yarns i2. The weft yarns I2 are much smaller than the warp yarns ll and have so little twist that they 'satten out like ribbons in the weave as shown in Fig. 2, and due to the fact-that these yarns are small, soft and highly flexible land are spaced from each other the amount of crimp imparted to the warp yarns i I by the fabric weave will le comparatively small as shown in Fig. 2. L

The warp yarns il are preferably vformed of grey cotton fibers, that is ilbers from which the natural waxes have not been removed. These yarnshave been previously stretched and set in the stretched condition so that they may be called pre-stretched yarns. .They preferably have been momentarily treated with an aqueous solution containing a wetting agent such for exthe result that the number of warp: ner inch in the present fabric is much higher than in the prior construction of corresponding weight usine the same size warp yarns; (3) the slight crimp of the present warp yarns gives high strength in the woven fabric. and the low stretch of these yarns and low crimp work together to produce a fabric having very low longitudinal stretch.

As a result of these highly desirable properterlals, and due to the greatly increased strength of the present fabric and low stretch and high transverse fieldbility more plies may be operation. The solution used to treat the yarns ii should be 'capable of penetrating -quickly into the interior of the yarn, and adapted to act upon the natural waxes of the nbers without removing such waxes as described in the Buckwalter patent. Good results have been secured by using rosin which is saponified to form an alkali rosnate which is mostlv the alkali salt of abietic acid, or an alkali metal rosinate-silicate solution may be used."

The yarns I2 used in the weft are preferably high tenacitv nvlonyarns that are much smaller in size than the warp yarns, 210 denier yarn with 68 filaments and eight blies twisted together with 3 turns per inch is considered good construction.

used in a belt constructed of such fabric than following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein;

RgJisaplanviewofapieceofmechanioal The relatively large warp yarns Ii are prefer- -ably crowded very close together in the fabric lil as shown in Fig. 1, since the more warp yarns that are crowded in the fabric per inch the greater should be thelongitudinal strength of the fabric. The weave shown Lis, `as above stated, a plain weave having one end up and one down, and it will be noted from Fig. 1 that where a warp yarn is up it presents a somewhat eilliptical appearance due to its spreading out on the ilat surface of the fabric for a short distance and then is compressed where it passes through the fabric. As a result only the cotton warp yarns appear at each face of the fabric, the nylon weft yarns being conned at theinterior of the fabric. This is an important feature because rubber will not adhere well to nylon yarns. but since in the present fabric only the cot- Vberwillbond well thereto,

" "The fabric of the present invention can be -3 0f the drawing.

ton yarns appears at each face ofthe fabric rubused to make a single ply belt or belts of any denumber of plies,ve`ach ply being coated with rublieror` other elastomer and then bonded to the otherplies.

In Fig. 3 of the drawing is shown a transverse section through a relatively wide conveyor belt formed of six plies of-the fabric lllwhich areim- Pregnated withrubber `or the like and then bonded together' as heretofore;` The'entire outer surface ofthe belt ls preferably provided with a protecting lm of rubber as indicated by I3 and since the upper face of the belt which carries the load is subjected to severe wear it is provided with a thick protecting rubber layer Il.

' Afconveyor belt should have good troughin'g properties to prevent it fromy spilling the load,

`such as ore, crush rock, gravel or the like being conveyed by the belt. This means that when the "belt is supported adjacent its opposite edges it f will rsag down in the middle under its own weight suiiicientlyrto form a good trough as shown in Fig.

I Fig.4 of the drawing shows a section of a prior type of conveyor belt using ordinary heavy duck fabric to form the reinforcing plies I5, which plies render the belt so stiff that it troughed very little `as shown in the drawing and therefore will y spill the load deposited thereupon. y

' The above and other properties of the fabric lI of the present invention will be further understood from Table I `which gives in column 1 the properties of a conventional cotton duck fabric 1 Conventional 2 Fabric New Fabric 210/8 nylon. 36.

Weight/sqJydJabric Weight of warp Weight of weft.

Tensile per iu.-weft- Fabric gauge (inches) .086

Fabric Elong. at break Fabric crimp-warp Fabric crimp-weit Stress-Strain of fabrics:

50 lbsJinch width 100 lbs/inch width l0 0V 150 lbs/inch width Grab test.

TABLE n Properties of belts Conventional New Constn v vStress-Strain:

50 lbs/inch width 100i lbs/inch width 150 lbsfmch width Braak plies. 8:57" 1 The fabric of `column 2 of Table I has a breaking strength of more than 15,000 pounds per square inch, whereas the fabric of column l of this table has a breaking strength of about 10,500

Lm/10 treated cotton.

pounds. LThe warp yarns used in this new rabrie as .086", it will therefore take 11.6 plies to form a sheet one inch thick. 'I'he strength of one square inch of the conventional fabric given above as 10,500 lbs. wasfound by multiplying 910, the strength of one ply, by 11.6. Likewise the strength of one square inch of the new fabric given above as 15,000 was found by multiplylng 1310 by 11.6.y l

Since the strength of the fabric used iria belt `will vary `extensivelywlth its constructiongand `gauge, it ls desirable for the purpose of denni'ng the present inventon to give the strength of both the fabric and belt upon the basis of a `square inch section, vas this avoids the strength variation due to the gauge of a single ply.

`It is well known that the actual strength o1' a duck belt is far below the breaking strength of a single fabric ply multiplied by the number ,of plies used. This is because the fabric Vis stretched in making up a belt which causes it toelongate, as the crimp is removed and becomes thinner, and when the fabric plies` are bonded together by rubber they will not all exand in column 2 the properties of a fabric of .corf ert of their strengthv when the belt breaks. In fact commercial duck fabrics exert only about 60% of the total strength of the individual fabric plies at break.

Belts ranging from two to ten plies of the fabric of Table I, column l have been repeatedly tested for breaking strength, using the Baldwin test, and this breaking strength when placed on the square inch basis of the plies (as if the rubber layers had no thickness) gave a breaking strength of about '7300A lbs. per square inch. The fabricvin the belts tested was made of conventional strong cotton, but if premium cotton had been used in the fabric a gain of about 10% in strength should be expected, in which case the strength of the belt might have reached about 8000 lbs. per sqare inch for the best grade duck belts available heretofore.

A belt constructed of the new fabric of .Table I, column 2- would have a much higher breaking strength per.` square inch, due not only to the superior strength of the individual fabric plies of the present invention, but also to the short elongation of the belt in use, whereby each ply will have a better chance to impart its full stretch to the belt. This will be apparent from the diagram of Fig. 5.

The comparative strength and stretch properties of the new fabric and old fabric and of the new belt and old belt are clearly shown in the stress-strain diagram of Fig. 5, wherein the percentage elongation of the fabrics and belts are plotted in the horizontal direction and the loads in pounds are plotted in the vertical direction. In this Fig. 5, the dotted line A is the stressstrain curve of a grey conventional fabric such as set forth in column 1 of the Table "I: the dotted line B is the stress-strain curve of the new fabric of the present invention as set forth in column 2 of Table I'; the solid line C is the stress-strain curve of a six-ply conveyor belt made of the fabric of column 1 Table I: and the solid line D is the stress-strain curve of the new belt of the present invention made of the fabric of column 2. Table I.

This that the sh'engthof the new fabric greatly exceeds-thato! the old fabric while its stretch is far below that of the old Vfahric. Italsoshowsthatthestrel'igthofthenewbeit fgreatly exceeds that of theoldbelt and that its metenisrarbeicwtmtbftheoldbeitandm 3and4bycomparisonsbowthegreatly netlngln'opertiesofthenewbelt.

Ihelow-stretch A perties oiabeltconstructedolheprentfabricmakeitpracdltooperatesuchbeltlmdertensionsthat'liecloseto thebreaklngpoint. Furthermore the presentlow Vstretchiabrictendstomakeevery fabricply eari'yitspartolthestraixiandtherebyproduce abelthavingwhatisknownugoodbreak properties. The high transverse flexibility of the pren't fabric not only imparts good troughing propertiestoathickbelhbutenablthebeltto absorbshocks betterthanstittboardybelts.

lhechemicallytreatedwarpyarns ILmidthe nylon weft yarns I2 are both highly resistant to me iniurious action of water, such as may be met whena conveyor belt is operatedforyears inawet mine. YThe fabric illustratedinHg. l ofthedrawnghasaplainweavebutother weavesmaybeused,andafurtherinereasein the'longitlldinal Strength 0f the fabric may besecured by employing a twill weave whichV will further reduce the crimp of the warp yarns.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A multiply (conveyor belt formed of a pluf remy of pues of woven fabriebonded together with rubber to provide a strong. low stretch belt having good tmushing Properties, most of the plies being formed of pre-stretched. strong and highly compacted coarse cotton warp yarns which yarns have a very low "stretch capacity and lie close together in the ply, and have invterwoventherewithsinallerloilvtwlstweftyarns that flatten out in the fabric and are disposed in non-contacting relation with each other so astoimpartonlyaslightcrimptothewarp 'tudinai stretchoi'notmorethan about break.

2. Aimmupiy formed er s plurality ot plies of wovenifabric bonded together having good troughing-properties, most of the pliesbeing formed cipria-stretched. strong. coarse. cotton warp yarns that have been highly stretched in a wet. condition and dried while stretched and have a very low stretch capacity Y The following references are of record in the me of this patet: Y

mman snm Pam-1s Number Name Date 1,659,680 Burns `Piel. 21.1928 2,005,407 Abrahamscn et al. June 18. 1935 2,298,071 Smith Oct. 6,1942 2,349,290 Loughborough May23, 1944 2,423,828 Chagnon July 15,1947

FOREIGN PATENTS Number country i nate Greet antun nee zo. 194s rubber tolprovide a strong. low stretchbelt 

